Per ESPN, Leonard could return as early as Thursday against the Pelicans after missing most of the season with a quadriceps injury

NBA Twitter and media reports

Mar 10, 2018 8:37 PM ET

Kawhi Leonard reportedly is close to a return to the floor with San Antonio.

Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard could return as early as Thursday's game with the Pelicans after missing most of the season with a persistent quadriceps injury, ESPN reported on Saturday.

ESPN's Lisa Salters is reporting that San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard could return as early as Thursday's game against New Orleans. League sources tell me that barring a setback, Thursday vs. Pels is indeed the targeted return of Leonard to the lineup.

Leonard, a top three finisher in the past two Kia MVP voting and cornerstone of the Spurs' post-Tim Duncan era, has played in just nine of their 63 games this season while dealing with quadriceps tendinopathy in his right leg.

Leonard finally made his season debut on Dec. 12, scoring 13 points in 15 minutes as the Spurs lost to the Mavericks. He saw limited action in eight of the next 16 games, averaging 16.2 points in 23.3 minutes, before returning to the sideline in early January.

The Spurs have withered in his absence, dropping 13 of 20 games following Saturday's 104-94 loss to the Thunder -- their worst stretch since 1996-97, the season before Duncan's arrival started a run of dominance featuring five championships and 20 straight playoff appearances.

That streak is in danger as the Spurs sit just 1 game out of the eighth and final playoff berth in the West.